Lautaro Martinez was once Barcelona's top transfer target - now he must show why as Inter emerge from hellish week into daunting Champions League semi-final

Lautaro's first Champions League goal came against Barca in October 2019 and, before the season was even out, he was being linked with a move to Camp Nou. The Blaugrana's interest certainly made sense. They needed a long-term successor to the great Luis Suarez and Lautaro looked like the ideal replacement - even in the eyes of Lionel Messi.

"He is spectacular, he has incredible talent," the Argentine legend said of his compatriot in an interview with Mundo Deportivo in February 2020. "You could see he was going to be a great player from a young age and now he is showing it.

"He is very strong, he is brilliant in one-on-one situations, he scores goals, he takes on anyone in the area. He holds the ball up, he pivots, he goes looking for the ball. He has so much talent, he is a complete player."

It was repeatedly reported during the summer of 2020 that Lautaro was open to joining Barca, but the transfer never really came close to materialising for financial reasons. Although the full extent of the Catalan club's money woes had yet to be revealed, it was clear even at the time that Barca simply didn't have the requisite funds to even get remotely close to meeting the colossal €111 million (£94m/$126m) buy-out clause in the striker's Inter contract.

As a result, Lautaro ended up penning an extension at San Siro in October 2021 that effectively ended any hope of him ever joining Barca.

"When we sat down to discuss the contract renewal, it was not thinking of a future sale, but of the next goal, the next game, Serie A and the Champions League," the Argentina international's agent, Alejandro Camano, told FCInterNews.it. "It is not a contract structured for an Inter sale, but to be happy at Inter. What matters for Lautaro is happiness with his family and his club. The transfer value is not as important to me as seeing his smile."

The Barca link has been brought up a few times over the past few years, but Lautaro has always dismissed it as "water under the bridge" and insisted that he only ever really wanted to stay at Inter. Whether that was really the case back in 2020 we'll probably never know, but it's clear that he couldn't be happier with the way things have worked out for him in Milan. "It feels like I was born here," he told Inter's YouTube channel earlier this year.

His strong bond with the city certainly makes sense. He was still only 20 years of age when he first arrived in Milan, and he is now a proud family man whose primary objective is to emulate compatriot and current Inter vice-president Javier Zanetti by becoming a symbol of the club.

And Lautaro is certainly well-placed to achieve that ambitious aim.

Lautaro led Inter to the Scudetto in his first season as captain - and in some style too, with the Argentine finishing the 2023-24 campaign as Serie A's Capocannoniere with 24 goals, which played a big role in him also being crowned the league's MVP.

In total, he's netted 150 times for the Nerazzurri, which puts him sixth on the list of the club's all-time leading scorers. If he were to see out his current contract, which runs until 2029, Lautaro would actually have a shot at climbing as high as second place, which is currently occupied by Alessandro Altobelli, on 209 goals. There's little chance of him surpassing Giuseppe Meazza (287) in the overall standings, but he has already usurped Sando Mazzola as Inter's top scorer in the European Cup.

"Proud is the first word that comes to mind, because I never would’ve imagined achieving this feat," Lautaro Martinez told Amazon Prime Video Italia after netting his 18th Champions League goal in the 2-0 win over Feyenoord in Rotterdam on March 5. "I am grateful to Inter, the fans and my team-mates. I also thank my family, both in Italy and Argentina, as they stayed by my side through good times and bad."

Lautaro has since taken his tally to 20, which isn't particularly impressive by modern standards. Erling Haaland, for example, has more than twice that amount and he's three years younger than the Inter skipper.

However, what is noteworthy is that Lautaro only managed 13 goals in his first 50 Champions League appearances; he's now struck seven times in his last five outings. The question is, though, whether he can maintain his hot streak, because Inter really need him to, if they are to have any chance of getting the better of Barca over two legs.

Inter's semi-final against Barca is rather predictably being billed as Europe's best defence against its best attack, but one can be sure that Inzaghi won't just be thinking of trying to contain Raphinha & Co. After all, Inter didn't just sit back and play catenaccio for the duration of their two-legged tie with Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals; they also took the ball away from the Bavarians quite brilliantly at times, while also scoring four times in total.

Lautaro accounted for two of their goals, producing a stunning outside-of-the-foot finish at the Allianz Arena before displaying his predatory instincts by pounding on a loose ball to score a crucial equaliser at San Siro - just six minutes after Inter had fallen behind.

He'll have to be just as deadly against Barca, though consistently clinical finishing has been an issue for him in the past - particularly in Europe. Lautaro has, however, been undeniably lethal so far this season, boasting a better shot conversion rate (36.36) than any of the tournament's top scorers.

The big concern, though, is that Lautaro appears to have fallen into a mini-slump at precisely the wrong time - just like the side he skippers. Because Inter didn't just defend badly last week, against Bologna, Milan and Roma, they were also atrocious in attack as they suffered three consecutive defeats without scoring a single goal for the first time since 2012.

Inzaghi admitted after the especially shocking 3-0 derby defeat that his players have been left mentally and physically exhausted by their treble tilt and believes that they are being punished for a general lack of "sharpness". The hope is, then, that a return to Champions League action will help refocus - and refresh - some tiring minds, as the majority of Inter's most impressive performances this season have come in continental competition.

Much could ultimately hinge upon the availability of Marcus Thuram. Inter, and indeed Lautaro, are a very different proposition with the France forward in the starting line-up, but he remains a major fitness doubt for the first leg in Catalunya.

Whether Thuram takes to the field or not, though, Lautaro will carry a heavy weight of responsibility. He is Inter's primary source of inspiration and goals, the adopted Argentine that has earned iconic status at San Siro.

Outside of Milan, though, there have always been doubts over his world-class credentials. There have been big misses on big stages in the past and he still gets accused of being a 'streaky' striker.

However, Barcelona once believed that Lautaro was destined for greatness, and Inter still do. Wednesday is an ideal opportunity for him to remind the world why.